special coverage all weekend right here on the fox newschannel. right now, behind me, where they're building tower five, there are hundreds of guys just having a regular work day but, of course, on sunday, everything comes to a halt. to remember what happened right back there 10 years ago. >> obviously it will be very intense, emotional weekend. and we'll be watching you guys on sunday. and thanks so much for singing that beautiful version of "god bless america." >> and for the first time -- you were fantastic as usual. you get to stay for the after the show show. are you ready for that? >> absolutely. >> sometimes we sing. i apologize. bill: it is already a busy friday morning and good morning, everyone! a brand new 9/11 terror threat as the country gets ready, marking ten years since the tragic attacks, the potential plot set to focus on new york city and washington, d.c., involving the use of car bombs or truck bombs. both cities, already on high

alert, urging people to stay vigilant and trust your own personal instincts. >> over the next few days, we should all keep our eyes wide stkpwhraoep in essence, we've said it so many times, if you see something, say something. bill every subway, every bus stop in new york city, we're going to try to sort through the facts and -- figure out what we know and do not know bill hemmer. how you doing? >> martha: good to see you, everybody. obviously, all of this has folks unnerved in new york and in washington, the threat is said to be connected to al-qaeda, possibly as a reskwrepbg attack for the death of usama bin laden. we know the terror group has often looked for strike during important significant dates in this country and the next one of those, of course, is a huge day this sunday. bill: let's start with david lee miller live in new york city reporting on this. david, good morning. what do we know factually about what is said to be in this possible plot? >> reporter: well, on the

record, authorities are not releasing a great deal of specific information. last night at 10:45, the mayor, police commissioner and assistant director of the fbi field office here in new york held a news conference, their words were chosen very carefully, they did not mention specifics, but they did explain why this threat is getting so much attention. listen: >> this this particular instance, we are in receipt of information that we believe is specific, is credible, and as of tonight, is not yet corroborated, and which will in the hours and days ahead consume our resources to make sure we fully understand the threat and take every step if in fact it becomes corroborated to mitigate it. >> reporter: here is some of what the authorities are not saying. they are reportedly looking for three men who entered the united states from pakistan, with orders to detonate a car bomb. a senior u.s. official tells fox that all the men speak arabic, as well as english, and that the authorities do not have their names.

there are other reports that suggest that officials do have their names but they are common nails and difficult to trace, and lastly, there is a report also out now that says that two of the suspects, bill, reportedly actually live in the united states, the third individual was based overseas in the tribal areas of pakistan. a lot of conflicting informs about this plot. the bottom line i'm hearing from law enforcement is this morning, it seems increasingly credible. bill: okay. now, the steps being taken to protect both cities. what are they? >> >> reporter: long before this threat was reported, measures were in place because it was the tenth anniversary of 9/11. now those measures have been beefed up. yesterday, new york city's police commissioner ray kelly discussed the specifics. listen: >> there will be more bomb dogs on patrol and increased deployment of radiation monitoring equipment at vehicle checkpoints in particular. there will be increased focus on tunnels and bridges and infrastructure in general.

as well as landmark locations, houses of worship, and government buildings. >> reporter: one thing to take note of here, those measures, bill, for the most part are very consistent with these unconfirmed reports of some type of a plot involving a car bomb. the mayor, as you mentioned earlier, said people should go about their business as usual, and interestingly this morning, that's exactly what he did, mayor bloomberg this morning on the new york city subway system on his way to work. bill david lee, thank you for that, we'll check in with you throughout the morning. martha: we're going to talk with catherine herridge later in the show, her sources now saying that law enforcement is actively running down leads that the suspected operatives are either u.s. citizens or are already here in the united states. so of course, this is not a new phenomenon we've seen here. since september 11th, there have been at least 46 home grown plots here in the united states. ill ill -- bill: think about the attack -- attempted attack on times square that originated in new york city. a couple of moments from now

we'll talk to the man who led the effort to protect the u.s. after 9/11, the nation's first secretary of homeland security, tom ridge, he's up next in a couple of minutes. martha: we're getting a flood of reaction to president obama's jobs plan, in a speech to congress last night. he urged lawmakers to end the, quote, political circus and pass his $447 billion bill. the president says it will create jobs and he believes that it will indeed jumpstart the economy. listen to this: >> it will provide a jolt to an economy that is stalled and give companies confidence that if they invest and if they hire, there will be customers for their products and services. you should pass this jobs plan right away. and everything in this bill will be paid for. everything. martha: everything will be paid for. you heard the president there. but some republicans, lawmakers, not so sure about that. listen to this: >> the president is on course to accumulate more debt in his term than all 43

previous presidents combined to when he says it's paid for, i want to see the details, i want to see the legislative writing, and when they say they're going to pay for it over ten years but they're going to spend it now, he has no control over future congresses. i'm a little concerned whether it happens or whether it really will be paid for. martha: all right. some of the concerns have been heard quite a bit. stuart varney joins us, fox business network. what about the first part of that, stuart, that this will help to instill confidence in u.s. companies and really be paid for. >> it really depends on how much of this package is accepted and goes all the way through congress and put into place. what will the republicans accept. how will the democrats and the republicans get together on which elements of this plan to actually put into practice. it seems like the biggest element, which is likely to succeed on both sides of the aisle, is the cuts in social security taxes. this amounts to $240 billion, almost a quarter of a trillion dollars, that would be put

into the economy, in cash, next year. you see, what would happen would be that there would be less taken out of workers' paychecks going toward social security tax and less paid by employers for social security taxes. $240 billion, next year. that's more than half the package. and that's the element that stands the best chance of passage. would it create jobs? depends on how much of the $240 billion is spent versus saved, and we do not know what it would do to the future financing of social security. but that's the element which probably has the best chance of full passage. martha: the biggest question is whether or not they will pass it sort of piecemeal, whether that will be acceptable to democrats or the president. it seems like they're going to have to, right? >> you're likely to get a counter proposal from the republicans with suggestions of their own and then meld the two together to come up with some kind of program. that's the most likely outcome here, but that's the spending side of it. nobody has a clue on how it's going to be paid for,

which taxes will be raised, and on whom, which loopholes will be gotten rid of or not gotten rid of. we simply don't know. martha: the supercommittee has a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks. stuart, we thank you very much for that, we're going to have a lot more coming up on that and stuart coming up on the fox business network. so what part of the president's plan do you think would be the most helpful to jumpstart this economy? tens of thousands are weighing in on our online poll. most saying that they agree with the payroll tax cuts that stuart just talked about for employers and employees. it's a basic thing, puts money back in peoples' pockets. what do you think about that? >> tell us at foxnews.com/opinion, go there to our you decide poll, and answer our question. you can send us comments at twitter, martha mccall him, bill hemmer as well. lots of people talking about it. bill: all morning. in the meantime, a short while ago, officials sell us -- tell us the electricity is back on. at one point, for millions in california, a blackout nightmare left them in the dark, affecting southern california across arizona

and mexico, san diego getting the worst of that blackout. casey stegall is live in mission viejo, it said that a worker tripped or served the line? what happened, casey? >> reporter: yeah bill, in fact, human error is most likely to blame here, that, of course, is being investigated at this point, but this was very widespread, and a really big pain in the you know what. but we are getting word within the last hour that nearly all of the power has been restored, like at this gas station where we are in southern orange county. reports really yesterday of people stranded at gas stations throughout southern california because power to the pumps was off, people sitting in the dark inside of restaurants, even people trapped in elevators and traffic lights out, causing some big headaches and even some accidents. but officials are stressing that this was not sabotage here. listen: >> we had an employee carrying out what's called a

switching procedure in a yuma area sub station, but we will need to take a little bit of time over the next day or two to try to figure out exactly what the relationship is, if any, between that procedure and the outages from yuma. >> reporter: even the reactors, the nuclear reactors at san onofre nuclear power plant north of san diego went off line as a precaution. everything is said to be safe there. a lot of the energy companies saying power is back on. they're asking people in southern california, southwest arizona, northern mexico, to conserve so all the circuitry and transmission lines can be recharged. bill: it's 6:00 in the morning out there. you've got a little time before the sun comes up, but not a lot. >> reporter: we do. bull bill casey stegall, live in southern california, thank you. martha: busy morning. those are a few of the stories we're watching in "america's newsroom". coming up, we have this for you, epic flooding in the northeast, mother nature sparing nothing in her path.

>> oh my gosh. that was a house! >> martha: unbelievable. we are live from one of the hardest hit areas in pennsylvania today. bill: when is that going to end, huh? so president obama making his pitch in almost prime time. what part of his plan has a chance? good question. martha: that's one of the more defining moments of 9/11. who will ever forget this moment, when president bush found out? >> immediately -- i didn't want to leave the classroom, i didn't want to rattle the kids. i wanted to project a sense of calm, so i hasely -- hastily scribbled a statement and went to a handful of parents who were expect to go hear the president say what a great reading program you have, and instead heard the president say america has been attacked. martha: what a shocking moment in that school that morning. who can forget that. so ten years later, the little children who you saw

in that classroom, they are now speaking out about the experience themselves, when we come back.

martha: here's an interesting development in this story, folks, the fbi is now raid thank california solar panel company that borrowed more than $500 million from the federal government before filing for bankruptcy, solydra's headquarters closed last week, they laid off more than 1000 woerbgs and that left taxpayers on the hook for all of that stimulus money that was supposed to save that company. listen to this: >> it's all been a big shock and big surprise and i think the employees, we had a great group of employees here, fantastic group of people working here and we're all sad to see how things transpired. martha: tough situation. that search was part of an investigation into a loan they received under a highly promoted federal stimulus pam for solar panels at this company. house republicans are calling on two top obama administration officials to

testify about why this company was given that money next week. bill: developing this morning, now reports of a possible attack tied to the ten-year observance of 9/11, as possible retaliation for the killing of u jam bin laden. the mayor of new york is michael bloomberg, he says the extra security is necessary. >> the threat at this moment has not been corroborated. i want to stress that. it is credible, but it has not been corroborated. but we do live in a world where we must take these threats seriously and we certainly will. bill: tom ridge is former governor of pennsylvania, also the first secretary of homeland security, going back to 2001, and mr. secretary, good to see you again, good morning to you. >> nice to join you again, thank you. bill: what are we to make of this threat? >> i think once again, mayor bloomberg has set the appropriate tone. his tone is under the circumstances exactly what it should be. i must tell you, i don't think there's a city in the

world that expends more time, energy and resources to make its citizens safe and the visitors safe, between mayor bloomberg and commissioner kelly and the extraordinary people you have there. they just take the information which i understand perhaps was found or reaffirmed by things they found with usama bin laden, but it should come as no surprise. i mean, significant dates, anniversaries, national celebrations, is a time when all security professionals go on a heightened sense of alert, even without a warning. so i think they'll take appropriate action and i think things will go on as scheduled. bill: you know john brennan, right, eaves the counterterrorism expert at the white house. it was only about a week and a half ago is that the message from 9/11 is that al-qaeda has been marginalized, that is group on the ropes. now, what's the truth? >> you know, it's difficult -- one of the things i mentioned about not being secretary is i miss not knowing. but what i do know is that

there are potential several sources of those threats. this may tpr-b a source that's directly related to al-qaeda, there are splinter groups and options of al-qaeda, it may be a domestic source. apparently the source or sources are credible, but beyond that, they have nothing else to give specific directions to cities and sources, so other than those directions, you get it from the credible source, you do whatever is necessary to make sure that your citizens and visitors are protected particularly over the next couple of days. bill: from the outside looking in, now, what do you think the state of al-qaeda is? how would you characterize it in. >> first of all, al-qaeda is a network, not necessarily a hierarchy, and so we got bin laden, we've got -- zawahiri will be next at some point in time.

you dismantle the leadership. i go back to the early days right after 9/11, the focus was on al-qaeda, but now you've got a diminished al-qaeda and obviously, though, they still exist. we could still have another 9/11. you only knead a few people that believe in this system and a few thousand dollars and they can create the greatest terrorist attack in our time. you have them in sudan and as you've seen in the last several years, and one of your colleagues catherine herridge has pointed out the growth of domestic terrorism as well. so the terrorist picture is more complicated than it was ten years ago. bill: yemen especially. >> exactly. bill: the memorial for united 93 in shanksville, pennsylvania, your home state -- i've been reading many stories out of p-pbz that they believe that that memorial and that incident is the forgotten one. what is the state of the memorial and how is that

going along now? with you part of that. >> well, first of all, those of us associated with it are grateful for the leadership of the families, it was their idea, chris sullivan from outback steakhouse, general tommy franks and i have been working with the families, there is federal participation, state participation and thousands of donors. the ultimate goal was to raise $62 million, we're about 52 million pledged, we'll have the dedication of the first phase this saturday, but if those in the listening audience want to help us get that final $10 million, because it is going to be the -- of the three memorials it will be with the national park service, go to honor flight # three.org and any contribution large or small will be greatly appreciated. bill that's under flight 93.org? >> honor flight 93.org. bill: is it true that people in pennsylvania feel that they are on page two of this? >> well, i think the number one -- number one, we're

proud that for the past ten years the people at shanksville in pennsylvania have taken it upon themselves to be the dosents at this -- docents at this site, but frankly, there are no visuals associated with the smoldering hole, with the wreckage, after we discovered a plane descending at 500 miles an hour, so it's not quite as etched into the consciousness of america but i don't think anybody feels that we've been neglected. we just hopefully, around the tenth anniversary, we hope to generate the final dollars to build the entire monument. bill: we're with you, okay? good luck. >> thank you very much. bill: it's great to see you again, okay? my best to you and everybody in pennsylvania on sunday as well. >> thank you sir. bill: you bet, thanks. martha: important story to remember there. thanks to him for joining us today. there are also some new threats from mother nature today and that comes in the form of this dangerous flooding. tens of thousands along

raging rivers in the northeast pack up and go, leaving their homes. we have incredible image ofs of those hard hit areas, a live report from the flood zone coming up. >> we're flooded out, the place is shut down, everything is removed from the building that's coming through the ground. >> all this coming is -- water is coming through the ground. >> through the ground, through the walls and everything.

martha: we are about to go to a moment of silence at the new york stock exchange that honors the victims of september 11th, their relatives and emergency workers. senator hillary clinton will be ringing that bell.

>> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪

>> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ god bless america. >> ♪ >> ♪ stand beside her. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪

>> ♪ >> ♪ >> [singing god bless america] >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> >> [applause] >> martha: you can see

everybody on the floor there as they start to get back to work, but what a moving moment that was to see all of those people assembled as they get ready to ring the bell, senator hillary clinton, senator at the time from new york and now secretary of state, will ring the bell just as she did on september 17th, it was only four days that the new york stock exchange was closed, that tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday. dick grasso, who was the chairman, so courageous at that time, led the stock exchange back to an opening that nobody thought could be done, that following monday, getting all of those people back on the trains, back into the city, to open up norcoo open up the new york stock exchange. clearly the attack was designed in part to be one at the heart of the financial community of the united states of america, and that is felt so potently

by the people who work at the new york stock exchange. it is a wonderful community down there, i spent a lot of time on that floor over the years and it's a tremendous place to be and it is a very patriotic community of new yorkers and of americans. so that's a very important, significant moment, watching it play out, george pataki whorbgs is the governor of new york is there, rudo giuliani, mayor at the time, hillary clinton, chuck schumer, still a senator from new york and dick grasso to the left of the screen was, as i said, a strong leader at the new york stock exchange during those very, very difficult days. >> [bell ringing] >> >> [applause] >>

martha: word last night from the president is that it will not add a penny to our country's decifit which is $14.6 trillion at the moment and here is a look at the number this, is the big number, $447 billion for the america's jobs plan.

republican leaders say it will not be that easy. here's house majority leader eric kantor on this. >> i don't think it should be an all or nothing proposal here. that's the one thing i think has not sat well with a lot of my colleagues, because the president continues to say ump teen times, pass the bill. again, that doesn't work in this town or frankly, anywhere, not when you have good people that can disagree, and there are pieces of this proposal that i think we can work on and move quickly, so we can see people get back to work. martha: sore is the president's plan enough for democrats? let's ask new jersey democrat robert andres, on the education committee and work force. good morning to you. obviously, it was a big night for the president, a lot of people felt it was ary strong speech for him, that he was coming out fighting, he said many times he wants to see that bill passed. do you think it will pass and what do you think of what eric cantor just said,

that they'd like to break it down and pass what can be agreed on immediately? >> yeah, i think some version of it will pass because of what eric said. legislative proposals start at one place and finish at another. what i would like to see us do is find the areas of common ground quickly and pass the bill quickly and get people back to work quickly. martha: you know, it sounds like you're on the same page at least to a certain extent there. so let's see what those areas of agreement are. but one of the big questions that people were left with at the end of the speech was $447 billion in new money to stimulate the economy, on top of $800 billion in the original stimulus plan that didn't work as evidenced by the employment numbers and every other indication in the economy that we've seen. so why would this $447 billion, why are we going to get the money and why should everybody be convinced that this time it will work? >> we're going to get the money by making reductions in some entitlement programs, for example. i think medicare should be

able to negotiate the price of prescription drugs the way the v.a. does and save a huge amount of money, by closing tax loopholes on the oil industry and some others, that's where the money comes from. look, i think it has worked throughout our history, if you put people to work building roads and bridges and highways and clean water systems, it works, i think it works if you cut taxes for small businesses and create jobs. it's worked in the past, i think it will work now. and i think middle class consumers getting a tax cut of about $1500 a year will prompt the economy, so i think there's agreement these things work. let's do them. martha: the big question, we were told there were these shovel-ready projects the first time around, so people are nervous about committing $447 billion, and you talked about cutting medicare, we're cutting it $500 billion in order to help the health care system. >> i didn't talk about cutting health care

benefits. >> negotiating the price of prescription drugs. >> medicare shouldn't be paying $5 for a bill the v.a. is pay -- for a pill the v.a. is paying $3 for. let's negotiate the prices and save a couple hundred billion dollars over ten years. martha: under1250d, but wasteful savings, a cut for medicare was the essential element of the $500 billion that was supposed to pay for health care and i don't want to get off track on the health care discussion, but i -- hreplgtsdz, because we need -- >> what i just said, what i just said was not a part of the health care bill. this is savings above and beyond that. martha: above and beyond. >> yeah -- >> the martha: the $500 billion we're already saving, which -- okay. >> but it's not -- it did not include that drugs negotiation i just said. martha: that's one element where you might carve out a little money. >> it's a lot of money. it's about $250 billion over ten years. martha: all right. i'll go for that, $250 billion. but the big question is how -- a week from monday the supercommittee harrowo already has to find

$100 billion in cuts, they -- $1 trillion in cuts, they have to give us a plan a week from monday. how optimistic are you that they can do that, that they can eek out these savings to cover this bill or is this going to be this thing where we're paying for it ten years downet road in congresses that don't exist yet? >> the projected spending in the federal government over the next ten years is about $50 trillion. i think every person watching this program believes we can find another $2 trillion out of that 50, not really hurt people or hurt services and get this done. i believe that we can do that. i think it's very plausible, very reasonable, and we should stop talking about it and do it. martha: well, everybody has got their work cut out for them and we'll be watching closely. and let's hope that this time, it does work, because people are desperate. >> well, let's do more than hope. let's enact it. let's start building projects that make sense. and let's cut taxes for businesses to create jobs and for people. and i think it will work, it

will help the country. martha: looking forward to that congressman, we thank you very much for being here today, congressman rob andrews from new jersey, good to see you sir. bill: the president is in eric cantor's district, john boehner's district. it's going to be a good one, america! it's a challenge to the health care system. why did the court say there's no case? important developments this morning on that, we'll tell you about it. martha: texas launching its biggest air assault yet as it battles the worst wildfire necessary that state's history. >> the wind is going to pick back up and start up the fire again. >> it's critical that we do not allow those hot spots to get larger in size and cause the fire to kind of wake up again.

>> march let's get to the headlines, pennsylvania was herry park is shut down,

water lead to go it led to a collapse, they have repair work to do in that park, and the u.s. sus new york arriving in its namesake city, there it will remain throughout the 9/11 ceremony, the ship built with more than 7 tons of steel that was recovered from the world trade center. what a beautiful ship that is. wonderful tribute. bill: welcome home as we say in new york, huh? well inform home, nicely done. martha: what a beautiful shot that is this morning. bill as we move through all the coverage over the weekend, just a reminder, on sunday morning, we'll have the special edition of "america's newsroom" from lower manhattan and we bring all of the day's events from new york and washington, and also shanksville, pennsylvania coming your way on sunday. all right, there is new fallout this morning after a federal appeals court in virginia dismisses two significant lawsuits challenging the new health care law, and john fund is a senior editor for the american spectator, john, good morning to stkpwhraou pleasure. bill: these were big, because one was brought by the attorney general from

virginia, and a lot of people thought he was making headway. the court said you don't have a case. liberty university had a case before the court, too, and they said forget it, too. now, upon which basis did both of these lawsuits get solved? >> well, the first case, which was brought by virginia, virginia had passed a law before omabacare took effect saying every resident of the state of virginia has a right to choose their own health insurance. they can't be forced to buy the product. so the state of virginia sued on basic liberty grounds, and what the court said is well no, this is ab easy out for any state to sue about anything against the federal government, all they have to do is pass a law saying state residents are except from something the president wants to do. the second case hinged on whether or not liberty university could sue and the court said no, you can't, because there's a law that said you can't sue the federal government before a tax takes effect, and omabacare is the --

essentially the equivalent of a tax. here's the problem: >> bill: but you have to define this, right? i mean some, people call it a tax and some people call it a fee. have the courts yet defined whether this is a tax or a fee, john? >> well, the district courts further down below in some cases have said the obama administration is trying to have it both ways because when they proposed omabacare, when they said we're going to have an individual mandate, we have to have a penalty attached to it, when they were trying to pass it before congress, they said oh no, this is not a tax, this is not a tax, this is a fee or something, then when omabacare passes, they say suddenly oh, it was a tax, because when it's a tax, they have much more protection from lawsuits to try to overturn it. so when the court has done i think is a mistake, because they say you can't have standing, you don't have the right to sue the omabacare law until it's set in place, until the tax is actually collected, when is not only 2014, by that time, omabacare will be in place. bill: so you have to wait

three years before you can challenge the law? >> exactly. bill: that's the way you interpret the way this court ruled? >> that's -- the court said basically we'll see new three years. by that time, the entire bureaucracy of omabacare will be built up and running. bill does that make it more difficult to overturn the law? or can somebody like mitt romney who made the case the other night during the debate that he's going to sign an executive order, first day in office, and allow the states to have their own waiver to opt out? would that be possible then or not? >> in theory, although that would be challenged too in court. but the bottom line, bill, is this. this all means that this case, omabacare, is going to go to the supreme court even faster than we thought but now there's a conflict. there's some court that is saying this is unconstitutional, some courts saying you can't sue on it yet. so i think we're going to see the supreme court take up this case this fall, they'll hear it probably the first of the year, we're going to get a decision as to whether or not omabacare is constitutional, the end of june i predict, 2012,

before the presidential election. bill: so you think they'll take it up this fall as opposed to spring, because a lot of the arguments say they'll take it up in the spring and in the heat of the campaign for 2012, they'll make an announcement. >> well, i think normally what happens is the court saves its most controversial decisions for the end of its term which would be june june 2012. i don't think they're going to do anything later than that because of the way thecortical dar is structured. the bottom line is president obama will either be running, defending omabacare or he'll be running having the basics of his law declared unconstitutional. bill: that will be a story. i mean, that's five months before americans vote. john, thank you, good for see you. >> thank you. bill: john fund in washington. martha: let's get you a quick look at the markets. they're getting hit hard today, they've had triple digits swings for the last five sessions, very volatile trading, the main component is what's happening in europe, and huge concerns that that kind of debt crisis contagion could spread to the united states. there's also some reaction in part to the president's jobs speech last night.

so we'll keep a close eye on the dow, don 184 points right now. and this is just an incredible story. they were children who had a front row seat to history. they were the students who were in the classroom when president bush at the awful news that america was under attack. >> my first reaction was anger, you know? go to helloo who the hell would do that to america. and then i immediately focused on the children. and the contrast between the notion of an attack and the innocence of children clarified my job. martha: this morning we're going to hear from those children and the teacher who were in that classroom. they are now ten years older, and we'll hear their story.

bill: there is something to look forward to, martha, nasa warning a 600-ton weather satellite is getting set for an uncontrolled plunge back to earth. oh joy! 35-foot satellite deployed in 1991, ran out of fuel six years ago, space agency says most of it will burn up when it reenters the atmosphere sometime later this month or early october. martha: that's comforting. bill: happy halloween. some pieces could hit the ground. nasa doesn't know where it might land since it's too soon. so we'll be watching the sky phos that! >> ♪ >> ♪ martha: getting ready for a very important time in our nation's history, and of course, all of that will be part of american history and the eyewitnesses to that very moment when president george w. bush learned that america was under attack on september 11th, 2001, the children who were inside that florida second grade classroom, all excited about

a visit from a president, they are now senior necessary high school, and jonathan serrie is at emma e aker elementary school in sarasota, florida. what do those students remember most about being witness toss history on that awful, awful morning? >> >> reporter: march that is correct the students say they recall vividly the change in president bush's expression from his white house chief of staff andy card whispered in his ear. at the time, the students didn't know what the whisper was about, but they could tell from the expression that it was something serious. president bush described what was going through his mind in the national geographic channel documentary. listen: >> my first reaction was anger, you know? who the hell would do that to america. and then i immediately focused on the children. and the contrast between the notion of an attack and the

innocence of children clarified my job. and that was to protect people. >> reporter: president bush says he didn't want to alarm the kids so he waited until they finished reading before he got up to get a full briefing on the attack. students say he made the right decision. listen: >> i asked myself what good would it have done if he had left immediately or if he had panicked and what kind of impression that would have left not only on the students but the nation as a whole. >> reporter: the students say that the teachers also remained calm and that really helped them to get through a difficult and highly unusual day, martha. martha: boy, what a day. you know, what an extraordinary thing that that moment was captured on video that way. so how did the events of september 11th, what did these students say about how all this affected their lives? >> reporter: well, the students say they immediately felt vulnerable,

however, they say they did not grow up in fear, and that was based largely on the conversations that they had with grownups, teachers and parents. in fact their teacher, kay daniels, recalls what it was like trying to explain to a class of seven-year-olds what exactly had happened during the emotion of the moment. listen to her: >> that was tough. that was really tough. because that's how i found out what had happened. it took me a moment to absorb it and to grieve a little and i had to do it really quickly because i had to get back over to the kids >> reporter: now, even though president bush had to cut his visit short here at booker elementary, it still made a lasting impression on the students. the students who were selected to read to him were selected because of their high achievement, so these students say that it underscores the idea that if they work hard, they could achieve any goal in life. martha. martha: it's great you had an opportunity to visit that

school, jonathan, which really is a part of the history of that day, and those children will never forget that as they grow up. jonathan, thank you very much, coming to us in morning. we hope you'll join us on this sunday, we have a very special edition of "america's newsroom", bill and i will be live at ground zero and will be remembering so much about that day, about the ten years since and about all that was lost and in many ways, all that was gained in ph respects. bill: it's going to be a powerful, powerful morning for all of us. there is new information on that 9/11 terror plot. what we know about the threat and who allegedly is behind that, top of the hour, when we return.

martha: beefing up security today in the wake of what is being called a credible threat against america. but it was business as usual for new york city mayor michael pwhrao*bgberg, he rode the subway to work like he does most days, he told people to go to work like they do every other day and

that came hours after a possible terror plot that rattled nerves around here and that is said to be set for september 11th and that's how we start as we welcome you to "america's newsroom". i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm ibm hemmer, welcome, everyone, martha, good morning to you. sources say it involves a car bomb attack on bridges or tunnels in new york city or washington, d.c., but frankly, not a whole lot of information passed beyond that. martha: officials say leave it to the professionals. listen to this: >> we have known from information gathered there that al-qaeda, not surprisingly, has been focused on in a general way significant dates, and the ten-year anniversary of 911 is certainly one of them. >> maybe it's a rumor, maybe there's nothing to it, but if there's something to it, then we know, we know two, three days ahead of it and we can then take action as appropriate. martha: so capital -- catherine herridge joins us live from washington. catherine, what does specific, credible and

unconfirmed, these are the words we're trying to read into this morning. >> reporter: martha, specific in this case means that the detail relates to new york city, washington, d.c., and a possible plot using a car bomb specifically targeting bridges and tunnels. credible based on my reporting means that the source of this information is a known source that has a track record with the sus intelligence community, therefore they have some way to assess how reliable it is. in terms of saying it's unconfirmed, what that means is federal law force minute, as well as the u.s. intelligence community, are working right now to find other datapoints that either conform this threat or undercut it. okay? so that's the picture, specific, credible, but unconfirmed. and this is one of the reasons in new york city and also here in washington, d.c., we're seeing these changes or tweaks to the security picture as well with bridges and tums. martha: indeed we have. there's also this information about three

suspects, we're heard, in some cases. what do we know about these suspect, where they come from, and what kind of handle our folks have on them. >> reporter: the information i had last evening about the individuals is that they were actively running down leads for people who may already be inside the country and possibly american citizens or people who may be traveling to the united states. this source pointed specifically to me to the plot last may with faisal shahzhad, the american citizen who traveled to pakistan, got his training and tried to come back and launch that car bomb in times square which fortunately failed to detonate. this is important because i'm told the threat information, the source of that is also pakistan, and i think the takeaway for everyone is that we have information point to go 9/11, also information that may specifically deal with american citizens, and that is a seed change in terms of recruitment if that is in fact the case. martha: let's hope everyone is on top of it. we know that's the

100 percent effort that's going on now. catherine, thank you. bill last hour we talked with the first secretary of homeland security. that is tom ridge. here is what he makes of the threat announced last night: >> it should come as no surprise. i mean, significant dates, anniversaries, national sell pwraeugtss, is a time when all security professionals go on a heightened sense of alert, even without a warning. so i think they'll take appropriate action, and i think things will go on as scheduled. bill: the former secretary also saying there is not another city in the world that does more than new york city to try and keep its citizens and visitors safe from terrorism. we can see that just about every day, can't we? >> martha: we sure can. so of course this would not be the first credible threat since september 11th, so back to june of 2206 -- 2006, seven men were charged with plotting to build the sears tower, the fbi called that plan more aspirational

than operational. in may of 2007, investigators say they foiled plans to bomb a military base at fort dix in new jersey, a videotape was found by someone who asked to copy it. and then go one month later, four men were accused of plot to go blow up fuel lines, remember this case, near jfk airport in new york. there have been several aspirational attempts. bill: this new potential terror threat going public just as president obama was making his way to the white house, spelling out his plan for creating jobs. he says it will put money in peoples' pockets while encouraging companies to start hiring again. price tag? about $450 billion. and calling on congress repeatedly to pass it now. >> i think the people of the country need a win. they're hurting. we all know the unemployment numbers, we know that people are just plain out of money and out of hope here.

so it's just striking to me that the president would lay down the gauntlet and say pass my package, all or nothing. bill: chris wallace is anchor of "fox news sunday", good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: so eric cantor came on tv and he was a bit strident in his reaction, john boehner put out a statement, he seemed to be like hey, let's figure out how we can get along and go along here. i think the republican reaction is very interesting, but based on what we heard last night, what do you think can pass? >> i think some of it can pass. it won't be an all or nothing. they will pick and chooseful and that's of course, congress' right and obligation. i think that you'll see some of these tax cuts, especially tax cuts incentives, credits for small businesses to hire, i think you could well see that long term unemployed jobs retraining program. that's a republican plan, it has been quite successful in georgia, and i think you could see some of that pass.

and i think you could see any effort to cut regulations and red tape. congress will certainly go along with that. i think where you're going to see much less cooperation is on stimulus and on aid to the states. when i say stimulus, infrastructure spending on schools and roads and highways. that was the part where the speech really did sound like son of stimulus, like we were going back to the future in february 2009, and it just hasn't worked. you know t. sounds great, i thought the president delivered a very well written speech last night, but you know, you look at the results of the stimulus from 2009 where they himself proper dollars it would keep unemployment under 8 percent and we haven't been -- we've been over 8 percent for the last 28 months. so you know, i don't think that will get passed. and the other big fly in the ointment is that the president said all this is going to be paid for, it's going to be announced a week from monday but what we're

hearing from the white house is yes t. will be entitlement previously and -- reform and i think republicans will buy into that but a lot of it is going to be the same old call for ending the bush tax cuts on the wealthy, ending tax loopholes for things like corporate jets and some of those other things. republicans didn't buy it in august, i don't think they're going to buy it in september. bill: it's interesting. but why did he come out with details last night about how you pay for it? i mean, why the drag of a week or ten days? >> i don't have a problem with that particularly. it's going to take a while to pass this, anyway. it's hardly like they're going to pass this in the next week. i can understand him thinking there's so much that people can digest in one meal, i'm going to tell you in a week, and i think -- the idea of a short term stimulus and long term cuts and decifit reduction i think is a legitimate idea, there are a lot of economists who think it's a legitimate idea, but the problem, of course, is that you can't find future

congresses and a lot of republicans are very suspicious and legit matily so because it's happened in the past that the things that are going to happen right now do happen right now and the things that you promise for five or ten years down the road just don't show up. and for people that are very conscious about wanting to cut the national debt, they worry, you know, we're going to do all of this short term stimulus, but we're not going to get the long term savings. bill: it's going to be an interesting debate when he goes on the road. eric cantor's district today, i think in a couple of days, it's john boehner's district, and you have a terrific program on sunday morning, you're going to be on the air for three hours, so we'll certainly turn in for that. preview? >> yeah, we are not going to be talking about this. let me just say one things about the politics of this. i think that the backdrop of this is that the white house is desperately concerned about the possibility of a double-dip recession, and i think what they're trying to do with his speech last night is say help us to prevent it, the obama

double-dip recession, and if you don't vote for it then we're going to blame it on you. so i think that they're trying to say give us economic help or we're going to try to get some political gain out of this. we'll see whether or not it works. as far as sunday is concerned, it's all about 9/11. three hours of coverage will be live at ground zero in new york, we'll be live at the pentagon, we'll be live in shanksville, with those extraordinary passengers of flight 93, crashed that plane to protect it from being used as a weapon. we'll have a lot of the key figures from 9/11, and since, people like phaeufr rudy giuliani, former secretary of defense rumsfeld, top administration officials, top people in congress, two questions we're going to focus on, bill, one, homeland security, are we safer, and of course, all of that comes in with this terror threat that we're under right now, and then the war on terror, where are question, what have we done in the last ten years, what do we still face, and one of the points quickly that rudie giuliani makes is 9/11 is not part of our past, it's not like

december 7th that we can wrap up and put on a shelf. it's part of our current and present and future reality, and pwoeurbg the events over the last 24 hours show exactly how true that is. bill: sure does. chris, we'll be watching, chris wallace, thank you for your time. >> thanks bill. martha: we always hear about bitter partisanship, right, but who says theand republicans can't get along, especially when it comes to golf? check out this unguarded moment between vice president joe biden and speaker john boehner before the president spoke last night. watch: >> wait a minute! >> i missed a 4-foot birdie on the last hole. >> no! >> one day i play great, next day, i play awful. but this is the round of the decade. >> that's incredible. martha: prices are! o priceless! one day you play great, next day you play terrible.

bill: that's golf, baby! martha: think we need another round of diplomacy. bill: missed that birdie putt by 4 feet. martha: say it isn't so! bill: we all have. at least one part of the president's address on jobs, dealing with unions, the panel on what made democrats go wild. we'll debate that in moments. martha: the freedom tower, rising from ashes at ground zero. i just sat down a couple of days ago with the developer who owns the world trade center, in fact, he bought it just weeks before september 11th. what he thinks now, when he looks at this scene. bill: also, two weapons found at the scene where border agent brian terry was murdered, linked to a botched federal gun running sting operation, and today, the plot thickens once again. >> the family wants answers. they'd like to put to rest and put closure to exactly what happened to brian.

martha: so president obama takes a stand for union rights during his long awaited jobs speech last night and it got plenty of cheers from the democrats in the room. watch this moment from last night. >> i reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining right toss compete in a global economy. [applause] >> >> martha: that was one of the big applause moments last tphaoeufplt meanwhile there's been a lot of focus this week on the tension that has been brewing between the unions and tea party groups, including this attack which you well remember from earlier in the week from teamsters president jimmy hoffa: >> president obama, this is your army! we are ready to march. let's take these son of a

bikes out and -- bitches out and put america will it belongs. martha: joined now by doug schoen, former clinton pollster, fox news contributor and sean spicer at the republican national committee, gentlemen, welcome, good to have you both here. you know, your reaction to this battle that's going -- going on, doug schoen and how tough a time is the president going to have with the unions going forward on all this? he's trying to keep them under his right arm, at the same time, making changes they don't like. >> that's exactly right. if he's talking about cutting entitlement programs and doing free trade deals with korea and colombia among others, this is not to the interest of organized lab ever. and richard trump ca made it very -- trumpka made it clear that labor was considering its full-scale support of the president, no question trumpka was in the

box with the first lady, central issue for the democrats, key fight. martha: let's play another sound bite from last night that caught my attention and we'll get your reaction to that this, is the made in america section. >> if the americans with buy kias and hyundai, i want to see folks in south korea driving fords, chevy, chryslers, i want to see more folks using products around the world stamped with made in america. that's what we need to get done. martha: that was a moment that had everybody noding in agreement. i think everyone in this country wants to see more things stamped made in america but we all know the reason we don't see that anymore is the unions put so many companies in untenable positions and the choice was to get cheaper labor outside of the country. how does the president square that 1234. >> martha, when it comes down to, what he was making ref residence to is we have trade agreements with korea,

colombia and panama that have been sitting on his desk three years. passing those agreements, particularly with the korea agreement, will allow greater access for u.s. automakers. the problem is, as doug kind of pointed out, he's trying to square his political ambitions with keeping the unions happy with what the economic realities are, which is how do we get more exports going, how do we create more trade and that means signing the trade agreements on his desk for three years, they are literally ready to go, one signature, they head to congress, and that is clearly one area where republicans would say if you send those agreement, we'll take them up immediately and start exporting but he just won't do it. martha: he made it sound like he wants to go forward with those deals and it raises the question, why not sign them, they've been sitting there a long time. doug, i want to get to the heart of this union issue and the relationship between democratic leadership because a lot of the union membership out there has been very supportive of a lot of more conservative ideals, the union leadership has fought tenaciously to hold on to its political

position, even though the membership in this country is down to something like 7 percent of american workers that are in unions. >> that's exactly right, and what you heard from jimmy hoffa was we've still got troops, mr. president, but more than troops, as the kyron was showing, labor has money and that's the key. given the change in finance laws, martha, the key for obama is to rally union labor and money, most of all, to support democratic campaigns. especially in the context where union voters do not march in lockstep with their leadership. martha: you know, he said it's simple math at one point and it is simple math in terms of many of these contracts that have been promised that simply cannot be fulfilled in so many cases for unions. so we need to go back to the drawing board in a lot of those cases. thank you very much, gentlemen, doug schoen, sean spicer, a lot of interesting layers to that story, folks. thanks gentlemen.

billion bill there is a fierce battle underway with phoefp nature. more than 1400 homes have been gutted like this. one of the worst fires in texas state history. just awful there. martha: cantor fitzgerald was a financial firm that was based on the highest floors of the north tower, and they lost in such a tremendous way. six hundred fifty-eight of their employees died on september 11th. how tragedy brought a group of grieving mothers together forever. >> i'm so sorry he didn't get to live his life. that's the saddest part.

martha: 658 men and women who worked on the top floors of the north tower, all employees of one financial firm, cantor fitzgerald, all perished in the attacks of september 11th, and this week, as they have done every week for the past eight years, a group of mothers who lost their sons on that day gather at a restaurant outside new york city. >> our son died, worked for cantor fitzgerald, 105th floor, and he went to work and never came home, and there are no remains. and the thing with the girls, it's comforting, you know? it's comforting to know that you have them, that you're not alone. you still miss every single

day. and i'm just so sorry he didn't get to live his life. martha: ten years. >> ten years. you don't realize that many years have passed. and it's -- it's not like another number. it's ten years. martha: so many of us know somebody who was lost from cantor fitzgerald, and it is an extraordinary group of families that have continued to go on, and there were so many young people, and that's why you see their mothers are the ones that are remembering, all those women celebrate their birthdays together, they socialized outside the group, 658 victims. for some perspective, about 400 firefighters and police officers died on 9/11. cantor fitzgerald, not to diminish the loss of firefighters and police, of course, but they lost 658 people, and it is an extraordinary group. i know so many others who continue to gather who are

supporters of those groups, and it is quite an extraordinary group. bill: and we remember them, and you look back at the video from ten years ago and it's only been ten years, but it's been ten years and the hairstyles are starting to change and the clothing starts to change and the cars look different. that was only ten years ago. we're going to get now down to texas, fox news alert now, launching its biggest air assault yet against the singlemost destructive fire in its history. now, these fires raging out of control for days, destroying 1400 homes already, thousands forced to evacuate near the capitol city of austin. kris gutierrez is in one of the lardest hit areas, bastrop, texas. are some folks allowed to go back into these evacuated areas and see whether or not their homes made it or not? >> >> reporter: slowly but surely, bill. we are on the leading edge of tahitian village, you talk about one of the hardest hit areas, this is here in bastrop, texas.

we are told a lot of homes in this area are leveled. we can't get into one of the hardest hit areas, it's deep, deep down into the pine woods here. but you can see, people are returning home, people are dealing with the fact they, i don't have a home, have -- i have a home no oning water, no power, and some return home and this is what they find. >> this is our life. our memory, i had only dhs tapes of my children when they were little, we have nothing. i have two fair of slacks -- pair of slacks and a pair of shoes. >> reporter: now from one end of the spectrum to the oerbgs we were with brian smalley as he walked into his house for the first time and despite the faint smell of smoke inside you'd never know a fire came close to consuming his house. everything, i mean everything, is the way he left it, including bows in the bedroom where his wife was playing with their daughter before they had to

evacuate. seeing it, knowing what the neighbors are dealing with make them feel extremely guilty. there's a tug-of-war with their emotions. bill: i can only imagine. kris, gutierrez, thank you. martha: the president's $400 billion jobs plan, here's the question now, is it dead on arrival in the gop-controlled house or is there anything in there that republicans will sign on to and like? we'll put the question to the ranking member of the senate budget committee, jeff sessions of alabama coming up. bill: rebuilding at ground zero at a time when some argued for so many years we should not. now the development of the freedom tower, in the ultimate honor to those that were lost. >> i remember speaking to many members of the different families who lost loved ones, and they had no remains because the bodies were vaporized, and therefore, this was their hallowed ground and therefore, nothing could be built on this site, and i

remember those days.

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bill: $447 billion trying to put the country back on track. is this proposal the right answer? alabama republican senator jeff sessions a ranking member on the budget committee. senator, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, bill. bill: are you running from this idea or away from it? >> reporter: you kno

>> i'm a budget hawk. looking at the budget numbers and all we are seeing here is $450 billion in expenditures. we had a bill that only cut spending next fiscal year by $7 billion. the president is talking about adding 450 billion in the next year or two as an additional stimulus plan. with a promise over a decade, perhaps, of paying that back. i'm not sure this is a sound approach, because i truly believe it's the debt itself that is pulling down growth and costing us jobs. bill: he says he has an idea to pay for it. listen to what he said last night. >> there should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. everything in here is the kind of proposal that has been supported by both democrats and republicans, including many who sit here tonight.

and everything in this bill will be paid for, everything. [applause] bill: do you believe it? >> reporter: well, not exactly. what he's talking about apparently is he indicated later it would be added to the promises of reducing spending over ten years. they want to expend $450 billion now in the immediate future, every penny of it borrowed with a promise it may be paid back in the future. we need to be reducing spending generally. we need to be reducing debt now. you can't say ur you are reducing debt when you're increasing debt. that's all we are doing is adding another $450 billion to the debt. bill: we were talking about chris wallace 30 minutes ago and his insight tells him that the white house is increasingly concerned with the possibility of a double-dip recession. do you see it the same way?

have we already got even back into recession, or can we stay clear of this. >> bill, we've had a very disappointing year. this fiscal year owl congressional office experts have been predicting 3% growth. we are below 1% growth the first half of that year. that impacts the budget, it impacts a lot of things. the question is what do you do to begin to create growth and jobs. we can't do it by increasing debt. i believe the debt is the reason we've had unexpectantly low growth. experts have told us when your debt reaches over 90% of gdp it slows growth. we are now at 100% bill. we've gone up 10% in one year. if we do it right, if we create jobs without spending money, such as producing more energy at home, such as eliminating regulations, such as creating a tax system that encourages

growth, those things don't cost money, but they will create growth. that is the kind of thing the president needs to be focused on. bill: senator, thank you for your time. we'll see how this all goes down, because the debate begins now as to whether or not these ideas move forward or where they die where they were announced last night. senator, thank you, we'll talk about. >> thank you. [music playing] martha: we are all remembering september 11th then and now. fox news has been following the rise of the freedom tower. this is what the skyline will look like when it is finished. it is going to be magnificent. and it will soon be the tallest sky scraper in the country rising next to where the twin towers once stood. i recently spent time down there looking at all of the development that is going on speaking of the developer of the world trade center, larry silver

stein. i asked him what he thinks now when he looks out the window at the rebirth. >> the progress that is being made it's very exciting, stimulating, encouraging, and i think every once in a while back to the challenges that existed and those going forward, it's really an enormous pleasure and satisfaction to see what is happening. it's taking place, the shape of it, the size of it, it's very encouraging. martha: a lot of people felt that nothing should be built here, that the whole area should be a memorial. what were your thoughts on that? >> martha, i remember speaking to many of the members of the different families who lost loved ones and the fact that they had no remains because their bodies were vapor rised this is hallowed ground.

and nothing could be built on this site. it was brutal, absolutely brutal. i had so many new yorkers say, you have to rebuild this, you can't let this sit idly by. and mayor guiliani said this should be a park, we had 10 million businesses that were gone. this was the financial locomotive for all of lower manhattan at that time. to wipe that out, which is exactly what happened on 9/11 and not replace it would be an economic disaster to the city. as i looked at this i said to myself, we've got to reverse it. the only thing that will do it is if we put the buildings back. since this is the last building to come down on 9/11, let's get this one up, let's start here. we lost no lives here in this building on 9/11. martha: when you came down to the site when was the first time that you saw with your own

eyes? >> a few days after 9/11 i did come down. it was horrible, absolutely horrible. there were troops all over, federal troops. the stench of the burning, and the flames and so forth, it was horrible. at the same time to see the best of america, the best of new yorkers, people coming down here, putting themselves in harm's way to try to rescue other people who they didn't know, had no relationship with. martha: what do you think when people say that how could it be that ten years later we are still watching this process, and it still has another five years to go to completion, right? >> it's unfortunate that it's taken this long. the important thing is it is moving forward, and while i expect i'd only have to give ten years of my life to get this thing done it will be 15 years of my life to get it done. martha: i remember that morning when the buildings were attacked, a discussion in our newsroom about, you know, well who owns the buildings and we

quickly discovered that larry silver stein owned the buildings and had closed on them just a week or two before. he said to me, you know, i always dreamed, what an amazing thing it would be to own those buildings those landmark buildings. that dream had just come true for him. he is so determined to see this go back up and see it be really a tribute to american resilience. bill: there were many arguments that the 16 acres should not be touched. make it central park south. you heard what he mentioned with the former mayor rudy guiliani. those structures down there are extraordinary. they are beautiful already and you'll see a lot more of that over the weekend as we move toward 9/11 on sunday morning. interesting timing or only coincidence. reports of a specific and credible terror threat making headlines just as president obama started his jobs speech. all the news attention quickly shifted to the terror threats.

did the white house seize a key media opportunity or not? >> we have taken and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise. we continue to ask the public to remain vigilant as we head into the weekend and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand

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martha: reports of a credible terror threat first started to surface an hour before president obama's speech to congress last night, started to come across the wires in various services. once president obama wrapped up his comments media outlets understandably jumped all over this word of a possible terror attack that may be in the works. so we're watching the timing, thinking about all of this, and kolbe hall is joining me now the manager editor at media height, an online site that examines the news media. thank you for being here.

>> thanks for having me. martha: i was watching shepard smith. he raised the question in terms of the facts that were out there in terms of the timing. this announcement had started to trickle out about an hour before. the speech was expected to be about 47 minutes long i think, it managed to be crunched down to 32 minutes. we know the republicans decided there wasn't time to respond, or for a variety of reasons they chose not to respond after the president's speech bumping up to the big packers game last night. why would they have done that, and what would be the benefit if they did. >> there are reasonable reasons to critique the white house messages, i don't think this is one of them for the reasons he just said. this is his big moment, his jobs speech. and the post speech analysis where people would be talking about the politics, the theater, his anger, frustration, what have you was stepped on or interrupted by this terror alert. i don't think that makes any sense and i don't think it's fair to criticize him for that

for the reason i just said, also, oddly terror is sort of a good issue for this president, which is sort of different from what people have said. martha: what do you mean by that? >> well in the past ten years the gop has very successfully used the war on terror as being strong as a really strong, successful political point. with drone attacks, and the capture and killing of osama bin laden have been following sort of the same bush policies with great success. they have taken terror policies and made it a strength. for reasons not clear to a lot of media people po have chosen not to make that a political football for reasons hard to say. martha: that races that question also. they felt it would be a strong position for the president to sort of be overseeing this possible threat, working to get things in place so that people are protected during this

weekend from a position of strength as president, which is a bully pulpit that only one man has at any given point. that is a possibility two. this was going to come out over the course of the next several hours no matter how they sliced it. that is one other possibility as to why they might have liked the timing and the order of things as they laid out last night. >> i think that is reasonable, i think that is a good point. i don't think that it's fair to -- perhaps throughout the whole bush administration there were critiques that they were using terror threats as a political football. i think that was unfair and i still think it's unfair here. obama has had his moment stepped on, and this terror alert came three days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. if this were to happen in march, that's a legitimate question. if this is also post osama bin laden being captured and killed. i think it's a real threat. the timing is probably an accident that the white house

probably regrets, but there is slight benefit to their political agenda as well. martha: there is a question of whether the republicans were squeezed out on purpose or whether they wanted to be squeezed out of the time slot on well. it's always very interesting, in terms of how these things layout. it was interesting the way it went last night. coal bow it's good to have you here and have your insight on how these things went down. >> thanks for having me. bill: jenna lee is standing by for "happening now," good morning. jenna: more on fast-moving developments on what is being called a credible terror threat. we are taking your questions for presidential candidate jon huntsman. log onto foxnews.com/"happening now." click on the asking tab to weigh n. we do read all of your questions. we'll talk to former bush administration chief of staff andy card. he'll be joining us. a tribute to those who died on 9/11 on wheels, all parked outside of our studio here on

6th avenue. bill: well done. jenna: wait until you see some of these. bill: is that four wheels or 18 wheels sore what. jenna: four wheels, several, fancy. bill: see you later, jenna, see you in ten minutes. two weapons found at the scene where border agent brian terry was murdered linked to a federal gun running string went horrible wrong. there might be a new link between his death and operation fast and furious. >> they'd like to put to rest and put closure to exactly what happened to brian, and unfortunately to date the information they received is either insufficient, or they are receiving mixed messages from the government. @p@çx

martha: there are new allegations of a cover up in the fast and furious scandal, the botched gun trafficking program that mutt dangerous firearms into the hands of mexico's most dangerous drug cartels. some of those weapons were found at the crime scene where border agent brian terry was killed. now there are new developments on this. williawill william la jeunesse joins us. he's been covering this from the start. what is the latest. >> reporter: weapons end up in the hands of angel diaz. it is the brian terry case that continues to unfold. we were told the f.b.i. found only two guns at the murder scene. now we have evidence of a third butt there in the words of an agent by a stone-cold killer and f.b.i. informant. >> what happened to brian terry is what used to keep me awake at night. it's the ultimate tragedy. >> reporter: the gun battle that

claimed border agent brian terry's life happened near midnight. by day break the f.b.i. controlled the crime scene. nine months later, however, the agency has refused to release the details of his death. >> the family wants answers, they'd like to put to rest and put closure to exactly what happened to brian. >> reporter: new documents suggest a cover up may be the hold up. until now those involved insist police found only two fun at the murder scene, two ak-style assault weapons. emails from the day after terry died suggest otherwise. in addition to those guns atf was, quote, researching the status of firearms recovered earlier by the f.b.i. a second email asks if the two ak-47's are quote in addition to a gun already recovered this mourn. so why is evidence of this third gun blacked out? sources say the weapon was procured by an f.b.i. informant inside the sinaloa cartel, the

gang that allegedly killed brian terry to protect the informant and the f.b.i.'s role in the agencies death the gun apparently disappeared. the f.b.i. said it could not comment because this investigation is on going. martha, i'll tell you the information supports an earlier contention by investigators that the f.b.i. not only knew about and allowed this fast and furious to continue but helped facilitate it through that informant. back to you. martha: william thank you very much. bill: four minutes before the hour now. severe flooding, a hundred thousand people told to get out of the rising waters, do not e end. >> completely unbelievable. everything is ruined. first floor is covered in mud. people's cars are ruined. there is a car stuck in that reservoir over there as well. i don't know where it all came from.

bill: as you can clearly tell from the past couple hours of our broadcast here, things here in new york are moving along to